One Step At A Time: Bringing Home Baby
by Trebles.and.Tones
Summary: This is a twoshot. First chapter will be Shelby bringing home Rachel from the hospital two days after giving birth. Second chapter will be Beth's first days home with Shelby and Rachel. Set in the One Step At A Time verse.
1. Rachel

**AN: I wrote this because it was a request. This is in the OneStepAtATime verse.**

* * *

"I am not closing my eyes, Leelee!" Shelby Corcoran said lightly. She was walking stiffly, though who wouldn't be after giving birth and sporting sixteen glorious stitches that actually hurt like hell if she moved the wrong way. She had been kept in the hospital for two days, and now she and her unexpected bundle of joy were home.

Home.

Shelby smiled as tears clouded her eyes for the millionth time in the last two days. She was home.

She was home because that was where her baby was. Her Rachel.

"I want Rachel out of her car seat." Shelby said suddenly, stopping in the kitchen of her tiny one bedroom apartment.

She was going to go house hunting soon. She made decent money teaching, and she was a shoe in for being the show choir coach as soon as the one at Caramel retired, and, while she wanted Rachel with her for now, her baby girl would eventually want her own room.

Leah set the car seat with the baby in it on the table. The car seat was perfect, even if Shelby had not been able to pick it out. Leah had done the shopping for that since they had needed it to bring Rachel home. It was pink and had gold stars all over it along with a matching stroller. Shelby had no idea where her sister had managed to find something so perfect, but she would be forever grateful.

Shelby unstrapped the baby from the car seat and brought her carefully up to her lips and kissed the soft, downy hair on her head, and then moved Rachel to her shoulder. She smiled and then looked at her sister.

"I am so happy, Leelee. I think I would have died had I not been able to keep her."

Leah smiled at her sister and stepped closer to her so that she could lay a gentle arm around her and then she leaned over and kissed the baby.

"I know that you are happy. Everything happens for a reason, Shel, everything. This baby was meant to be with you."

"I love her so much, Leelee, I feel like I might burst from it." Shelby said as she looked at the face of her perfect little angel.

"Come on, Shel, I have something to show you." Leah said, this time not bothering to try and get Shelby to close her eyes. Her eyes were only for the baby in her arms at the moment anyways.

Leah guided Shelby through the small hallway and into her bedroom. When Shelby finally looked up, tears started immediately falling again.

Shelby used her free hand and wiped away the tears.

"Damn hormones!" Shelby hissed through her tears, as she leaned into her big sister seeking comfort.

Shelby's room had been rearranged, and now, against one wall, was a beautiful, dark oak crib, bedding and all, with a rocking chair that matched right beside the crib. The bedding had musical notes all over it and the mobile above it had musical notes and stars. Shelby didn't even bother to ask where Leah had managed to find the bedding and mobile. It was perfect though.

"Thank you, Leelee! It is perfect." Shelby said. Leah patted Shelby's back soothingly and just let her little sister take in the sight.

"I really love it." Shelby whispered, holding Rachel close to her.

"You deserve it, Shel. You deserve it, Shel."

Shelby smiled, and then Rachel started to cry. It was a loud cry. The nurses had told her that her tiny, baby girl had been the loudest in the nursery. Rachel Barbra Corcoran had been the talk of the nursery the entire time she was there, not that she was in there much after Shelby had realized that Rachel was hers.

Forever hers.

The nurses had told her that Rachel had cried nearly the entire time she had been in the nursery until she had been brought back to her mother.

The moment that Shelby had picked her up and had, on a whim, decided to breast feed her, she had stopped crying. She only cried when she was hungry or wet now.

"She is hungry." Shelby said absently, walking over to the crib and sitting down, quickly unbuttoning the shirt she had on and then releasing the clip on the nursing bra that Leah had also brought her.

Rachel immediately latched on and began to feed, and Shelby smiled.

Leah watched on. Her little sister was a perfect little mother. Everything just seemed right. Leah watched Shelby as she stared at the perfect little baby and then at Rachel as the little girl put her tiny hand on her mother's breast, taking ownership over what the infant, at two days old, seemed to know was hers.

Leah went and sat on the bed and watched her sister's reactions to the infant.

"Are you scared, Shel?" Leah suddenly asked.

Shelby smiled as she looked up from her baby.

"Yes and no. She is so perfect, Leah. I am scared a little bit, but this feels so right." Shelby said and then looked back down at her perfect baby.

"She is like a little angel. I knew, you know, the minute that I heard her heard beating, that I wanted her."

Leah nodded. She had known that. Leah had held her while she cried that night.

"But, now I have her. I am sorry about what happened to Hiram Berry, but I am not sorry that I won't have to fight for my daughter."

**-OneStepAtATime:BringingHomeBaby-**

Shelby woke to the cries of her baby at three in the morning. It had been nearly three hours since she had woke up with her last, and Shelby knew, without a doubt, that Rachel was both hungry and wet.

Shelby stiffly sat up just as her door opened.

Leah. Leah had stayed the night with her, and was planning on it until at least until Shelby's stitches came out. She had been sleeping on the pull out in the living room until she had heard Rachel's cries. The nurses had been right. The tiny girl had a very good set of lungs on her.

"Stay in bed, Shel. I will get her for you."

"She needs to be changed and fed. Besides, if I don't move around, I am going to be so stiff in the morning."

"You need to take something."

"I will take some Tylenol the doctor gave me after I feed her." Shelby said, and slowly made her way over to the rocking chair. If possible, she was sorer now, the day after the day after giving birth, than she had been right after.

"I will change her, and then you can feed her while I get you something to drink and some Tylenol."

"Okay, sounds good." Shelby said, and leaned back in the rocking chair.

Leah made quick work of changing the baby and then handing her over gently to Shelby, who had already started to pull down her tank top to feed the little girl.

After Rachel was latched on and Leah handed Rachel's blanket to Shelby, she left the room to get a bottle of water and a couple Tylenol.

She made her way back to the bedroom, but stopped and leaned against the doorframe as she heard her sister singing to Rachel…

"_She's got a smile it seems to me  
Reminds me of childhood memories  
Where everything  
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky  
Now and then when I see her face  
She takes me away to that special place  
And if I'd stare too long  
I'd probably break down and cry_

Oh, oh, oh  
Sweet child o' mine  
Oh, oh, oh, oh  
Sweet love of mine…"

Leah smiled as Shelby sang and fed Rachel, using her toes to rock the baby back and forth. It was the most natural thing that Leah had ever seen.

Her sister was happier than she had ever seen her.

Everything was simply perfect.

* * *

**AN: This story is a twoshot. The next chapter is Beth's first few days home. **


	2. Beth

Recently turned nine years old Rachel Corcoran stared at the scrunched up, red, screaming, squirmy alien in the bassinet her mother had bought a few days before.

The alien even had a name.

Elizabeth.

Or, Beth.

When her mommy had talked to her about getting a new sister, Rachel had been excited despite the few reservations she had automatically felt in her belly when her mommy had told her that the baby would be coming very soon. She had automatically thought of a sister she could play with like a baby doll. She could change her, feed her, love her.

Of course, only her Beth was not really all that fun. She had been home for two days and she screamed. All. The. Time. Plus, Rachel wanted nothing to do with the mess that actually came out of the little alien baby. Rachel was positive that she had never, not in her entire life, smelled something as bad as what was so often present in Beth's diapers. Rachel has only been a big sister for two days…well, technically four since Beth had been born four days before…but she knew that Beth had to be the worst smelling, loudest baby ever. It made Rachel's head hurt, and the new demon was taking all of her mommy's time. Rachel was simply not used to sharing her mother's attention at all hours of the day, every single day.

And, it had only been a few days.

Beth was simply not fun. Not at all.

"Mommy, I thought we were going to do something today." Rachel whined from her spot on the couch as she stared at the screaming baby, rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

Rachel hated being cooped up in the house for a long time. In preparation of the new little demon baby, her mommy had not let her leave the house. The moment the baby was born, it was like her mommy had gone into hyper drive. The entire house had needed to be cleaned, much to Rachel's dissatisfaction, because Rachel had been getting over a nasty cold and had been in the house for days. Then, when her mommy had gone to get the baby, Rachel had had to stay with at home with Aunt Leah and her little cousin Elijah. Rachel had not been happy about that either. Her mommy was the one who was supposed to take care of her, not her Aunt Leah, who had no idea how to mush her sandwiches together the right way or how to check a temperature right.

It was like the baby was already dictating her entire life and she was only four days old.

"Rachel, we are staying in, but we can watch a movie." Shelby said from the kitchen. Shelby knew that Rachel was tired of being in the house. She had not been anywhere in a week, as it was still Christmas holiday from school and she had been sick. Shelby had also not been taking Rachel out because she had gotten sick right after Christmas and Shelby didn't want her out in the cold. Plus, she didn't want Rachel to still be sick when the baby came. Rachel was better now, but she still sounded very congested.

But, Rachel was an energetic little girl and she was not old enough to understand her mother's reasoning.

"I want to do something though." Rachel whined again, leaning over the arm of the couch and poking the still screaming thing in the bassinet.

Shelby walked into the living room with a bottle and burp rag. She stopped several feet from the bassinet and put her hands on her hips.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Shelby asked as she watched Rachel poke Beth several times.

"Mommy, when are you going to take her back?"

Shelby stared at Rachel. She didn't know what to think. She had thought her newly turned nine year old had understood that Beth would be living with them from now on. That Beth was Shelby's daughter just like Rachel was her daughter.

"Baby girl, Beth is going to live here from now on. She is your sister. She is also my daughter just like you are my daughter."

Rachel looked up at her mother.

"She isn't any fun. I thought she was going to be fun." Rachel whined again, a pout forming on her lips.

Shelby picked Beth up and sat down in recliner that rocked, immediately sticking the bottle into the baby's mouth. It had been years since Shelby had taken care of a baby. She had watched her nephew, Elijah some, but Rachel was the last baby she had cared for continuously. And then she had breast fed, so it had been easier than constantly having to make and clean bottles.

She looked over at Rachel watched her pout.

"I thought you were excited about having a little sister, Rach. She won't always be boring, love. Before you know it, she will be big enough to play with."

Rachel shrugged her shoulders and coughed. Shelby looked at her for a few moments as she rocked back and forth and held Beth's bottle. She could still hear the congestion in Rachel's chest and knew that she was going to have to give Rachel some medicine as soon as she was finished feeding Beth. That would not go over well, as Rachel hated taking medicine and had been on the stuff for over a week.

"I am glad to have a sister, but I didn't know she was going to be so boring. I don't remember Elijah being this boring. And I know he didn't smell as bad."

Shelby had to hide her smile. Rachel had only been five when Elijah was born. Still practically a baby herself. Rachel had been so tiny. She was still tiny for her age and passed for much younger.

But, at five, Rachel had definitely been a tiny thing.

"Well, Elijah was just as boring as Beth is at one time. You just don't remember."

Rachel sighed. She guessed so.

"I want you to hold me." Rachel whined again. Shelby was tired of hearing the whiny tone in her child's voice.

"You will have to wait, Rachel." Shelby said gently. She knew that this was a hard transition for Rachel to make.

"But then will you hold me? You said we could watch a movie." Rachel asked, her lip quivering and tears already starting to form.

"Yes, you and I will watch a movie as soon as I get Beth back to sleep."

"Well, can I hold it?" Rachel asked, standing up.

Shelby looked at Rachel, confused.

"Can you hold what?"

"It!" Rachel said exasperatedly, point at the baby.

"Rachel, she has a name." Shelby said gently.

"Ugh. Can I hold Beth?"

"You may, if you sit down. Do you want to feed her?"

"I guess." Rachel said, sighing as she sat down. She didn't understand why her mother always made her sit down to hold the gremlin. She was perfectly capable of carrying something that only weighed six pounds and eleven ounces. Apparently, that was really important because all of the grownups who had been to their house had asked her mommy how much the baby weighed.

Soon, Rachel was holding the baby in her arms, propped up against a pillow, and holding the bottle while her…their mommy sat close by.

"Mommy, back off." Rachel said in all of her nine year old arrogance.

Shelby raised an eyebrow as she watched Rachel hold her baby sister. She decided to ignore the little comment for the time being.

Shelby stood up and grabbed her camera and started snapping pictures. She didn't want to step too far away from Rachel and Beth because, despite Beth only being about seven pounds, Rachel was a very small nine year old.

With the fifth picture, Shelby was lucky enough to catch Beth spit up all over Rachel.

Lucky. Hah, Shelby knew exactly what was fixing to happen.

"Mommy! Get It! Get it off!" Rachel said as she tossed the bottle to the side and moved the baby away from her. Shelby quickly took the baby from Rachel and, since Beth was surprisingly not crying, laid her in the bassinet, quickly sticking a pacifier in her mouth.

Shelby turned back to Rachel.

Rachel was spazzing out. Shelby stepped over to the couch and sat down while getting Rachel to stand up.

"Get it off me, Mommy! She puked on me!" Rachel said, crying and holding her arms out away from her body.

Shelby had honestly never seen Rachel freak out like this about anything so simple. She knew that Rachel did not like being dirty, but this was over the top even for Rachel.

"Rachel, calm down and tell me what is going on in your head." Shelby said, reaching forward and putting a hand on Rachel's shoulder to get her to stop moving and then in seconds pulled Rachel's shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor so that she could pull Rachel onto her lap. The girl now only had her sleep shorts on, but they could worry about another shirt later.

Despite her tears, Rachel reached her right hand up under the bottom of her mother's shirt and rubbed Shelby's stomach and clutched the hem of the shirt in her hand, and then moved her left up to hold onto Shelby's bra strap that went across her right shoulder, her head resting on Shelby's chest.

Shelby had been trying to break Rachel of this habit to no avail. Rachel had been doing this for years, and Shelby silently wondered if she was ever going to be able to completely break her of it. Shelby had actually thought she had broken Rachel from holding onto her bra strap, but in the two days since Beth had been brought home, Rachel had started holding onto it again whenever she could. Shelby didn't mind her holding onto the bottom of her shirt or even rubbing her skin when she really needed comfort since that was the only time she actually did rub her skin, but she really did want to break Rachel of holding onto her bra strap. Now that Rachel was bigger, it was not exactly comfortable to have her adding weight to the strap as she pulled down.

Shelby rocked Rachel back and forth, Rachel's hand clutched tightly to the shoulder strap of her bra and the other rubbing her stomach and holding her shirt. Shelby just rocked Rachel for several moments, using her fingernails to lightly graze over Rachel's bare back, knowing that it comforted Rachel.

"Talk to me. Now, Rachel. I need to know what is going on."

"You are going to forget all about me now that the gremlin is here! I want it to just be me and you again!" Rachel cried, wiping her face on her mother's shirt.

Shelby held the little nine year old child tighter against her and leaned down so that she could kiss Rachel's head.

"Baby girl, I am never going to leave you. Just because Beth is going to be your sister and my daughter does not mean that she is going to replace you. You are still my baby."

Rachel didn't say anything, but just continued to lie against her mother and breathe in the scent that was only her mother. She just wanted her mommy to hold her and stop giving all her attention to that whiny baby.

Then Beth started to cry.

Shelby reached over to the bassinet and grabbed the pacifier with her free hand so that she could put it back into Beth's mouth. The baby sucked on it greedily.

Shelby could already tell that getting Beth off the pacifier in a year or so was going to be like trying to get Rachel to stop breastfeeding when she was close to three. It had taken a long time to get Rachel fully weaned. Even afterwards, Rachel had tried to get Shelby to feed her when she was ill up until she was nearly five.

That was why Rachel found solace in clutching onto her mother during hard times.

"Why don't you go lie down, baby girl. You need to take a bit of a nap. I know that you don't want too, but you look really tired." Shelby said. She knew that Rachel had not slept well the night before because she had crawled into bed with Shelby and had then proceeded to wake up every time that Beth did.

"Can I lie down in your room and watch _Nanny McPhee_?" Rachel asked, sniffling and then coughing into Shelby's chest. Shelby needed to give Rachel some decongestant and cough medicine as well. She didn't want to have to take Rachel to the doctor because of a simple cold, but she was going to have too if the crude she had didn't get better soon.

"Yes, come on and I will put it in the DVD player."

"I have to get Duck." Rachel said froggily, wiping her nose on her mother's shirt again.

"Duck is in my bed. Remember, you slept there last night."

"Oh yea. Will you carry me?" Rachel asked softly. Normally, she didn't want her mommy to carry her because she was nine years old and nine year olds were simply not toted around by their mothers.

But, that was before Beth.

"I suppose that I can carry you this once." Shelby said as she looked over to Beth and saw that the infant was sleeping.

Shelby lifted her hand up to Rachel's head and felt for a fever. She seemed a little warm, but she had also been upset for several minutes, and that could be why. Shelby knew that she would just have to keep a close eye on her.

Shelby stood up and Rachel let go of Shelby's shirt and bra strap, and then turned to wrap her arms around her mother's neck and her legs around her waist.

Shelby patted Rachel's behind a few times as they went up the stairs and into Shelby's bedroom. She wished that she knew what to do to alleviate Rachel's fears.

If they were fears. Shelby was not so sure that it was a fear, but more of a sudden jealousy at having to share. Rachel barely liked sharing her toys at times; sharing her mother was something else entirely.

Shelby placed Rachel on the bed and then immediately covered her up as she grabbed Duck and pulled him close to her.

Shelby started the DVD and then walked back over to Rachel and kissed her head.

"Come get me if you need anything, baby girl."

Rachel nodded and then gave a congested sounding, "I will."

Shelby smiled at her daughter. It would not take long and the little girl would be fast asleep.

Rachel watched her movie, a movie that she had been watching over and over for nearly a month, and laughed quietly throughout it.

Then she suddenly sat up when a scene that she had never really paid attention too played across the screen.

All those kids were pretending to be sick! Her mommy, while pretty awesome, did _not _have magical powers unless you counted her ability to read minds and the fact that she had a secret pair of eyes in the back of her head that were completely invisible to little kids, so she wouldn't be able to figure it out!

(Rachel just knew that when she turned ten she would be able to see those eyes because she wouldn't be a kid anymore. She would be in _double digits_ then!)

Rachel watched a few more minutes of her movie while she thought. She was so going to pretend to be sick and then her mother would have to pay more attention to her then!

**-OneStepAtATime:BringingHomeBaby-**

Shelby was folding clothes while she had the chance since Rachel was upstairs and Beth was sleeping. She was really and truly happy.

Not that she was not happy before. Rachel would have always been enough for Shelby. She loved Rachel more than life itself and would do anything for her little girl. She knew that she and Rachel had room for Beth though. Beth had needed a home, a place to be loved, and Shelby and Rachel could give that too her.

Shelby also knew that Rachel would come around and love her baby sister. Sure, she had talked to Rachel before adopting Beth, but, just as if she had gotten pregnant, it was not a choice that she had given Rachel. She did not ask Rachel if it was okay with her, she simply told Rachel that she was going to have a baby sister, and then the two had talked about it at length so that Shelby could make sure that Rachel understood that they would be a family.

Shelby froze when she heard a deep cough coming from behind her on the stairs.

It was Rachel, who was still not wearing a top, just her sleep shorts. Shelby had completely forgotten that she had laid Rachel down without a shirt on. She went through the stack of clothing and pulled out a shirt and walked over to the girl who was rubbing her eyes and pouting.

Shelby handed her the shirt and watched as she put it on.

"What is wrong, baby girl?" Shelby said, her brows scrunched as Rachel coughed again. Good grief how Shelby hated that nasty, wet, deep cough that wracked through her baby's small chest. She always hated it when Rachel was sick.

"I don' feel good, Mommy. Pick me up." Rachel whispered. Shelby sighed a little. It was like Rachel completely regressed when she was sick, but only when she really, truly did not feel good. Any other time, Rachel would not fathom the thought of asking her mother to pick her up.

Shelby bent down and picked the girl up, once again thankful for her tiny stature, and took her into the kitchen to take her temperature.

Rachel laid her head on her mother's shoulder and sniffled a couple of times. This was totally working.

Rachel, so into her acting, did not even realize that her head actually was hurting a little bit.

Shelby set Rachel down on the countertop while she reached up near the fridge and pulled down the thermometer and a decongestant and cough medicine. Rachel especially hated the cough medicine.

"Open your mouth and put this under your tongue." Shelby said, and then stuck the thermometer into her mouth, holding it there as Rachel leaned against her.

Thirty seconds later, Shelby read the read out on the device and sighed. 101.3. She rubbed Rachel's back and just let her lean against her for a little bit.

Then Beth started to cry.

Shelby really could not catch a break with her little angels today.

She picked Rachel up off the counter and set her on the floor.

"Let me go check on your sister and then I will give you some medicine." Shelby told Rachel and then walked towards the living room.

Rachel crossed her arms and pouted. She obviously wasn't pretending to be sick enough yet.

Rachel rubbed her head and with one hand while the other was still across her chest. She had an idea.

She went to the kitchen table and grabbed a chair. She pushed the chair against the cabinet and then climbed up on the countertop. This was actually something that Rachel knew to be against the rules. Extremely against the rules.

The last time her mother had caught her up on top of the countertop, she had gotten a spanking and been made to stand in the corner.

It had been a bad day; especially since she had decided that it was a good idea to yell at her mommy that day after she got out of the corner.

She had actually been sent to bed early that night, much to her displeasure.

Rachel walked across the cabinet and over to the fridge. The small wicker basket that set on top of the fridge was full of markers. Rachel had to ask permission, usually, before she could use them, but today that fact was erased from her mind. She looked through the basket and found the red marker that she was looking for. It was one of the markers that her mommy never let her use. It was called a Sharpie, and Rachel had always loved the perfect red color that it was.

She sat down on the countertop and uncapped the marker and immediately started to put small dots all over her arms and legs.

She heard her mother coming from the living room, talking to Beth as she did. Rachel shoved the cap back on the marker and then hid it in the band of the back of her sleep shorts and panties. Her mother would never think to look for it there.

Rachel completely forgot to get off the cabinet and move the kitchen chair back to the table.

Shelby walked in and immediately stopped. Beth was in the crook of her right arm, so she put her left hand on her hip.

"Rachel Corcoran! What are you doing?" Shelby asked. The random dots all over her kid were not missed either.

"Mommy, I think that I am really sick. See these spots! I need you to take care of me." Rachel sniffled out pitifully.

Shelby walked over to the counter and with her left arm easily pulled Rachel off of the countertop.

She was going to swat her, but the little girl immediately covered her backside and took off into the living room.

Shelby followed her and watched as Rachel sat on the couch, pulling the throw that was over the back of the couch over her.

"I am sick, Mommy. You can't spank me when I don't feel good. Look at these spots! I bet they are real catching! I bet you need to make Aunt Leah come get that baby so that it don't catch these spots." Rachel said seriously, wiping her running nose with her hand and then wiping her hand on the blanket.

Shelby rolled her eyes. She was going to have to give Rachel a bath now. She hoped that it wasn't permanent marker on her.

She was also going to have to wash that blanket. Not that she was surprised. No matter how many times she told Rachel to grab a tissue, the girl always seemed to forget.

"For some reason, I think that she will be fine. She just went back to sleep, so I am going to lay her in the bassinet and go get you some medicine. Leave her be so that she can sleep."

"Okay, Mommy. I won't mess with her." Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

That was a new one. Rachel had only started rolling her eyes at Shelby a couple of months prior. Shelby was not happy about it at all.

Today, she let it slide.

While her mother went into the kitchen, Rachel walked over to the baby and pulled the marker out of the back of her pants and uncapped it. She was only going to put one dot on the baby.

Right on her little cheek.

Rachel looked at her new work and smiled proudly.

Now the little gremlin looked like she was catching the spots too!

Rachel was just about to put another dot, just to make sure that her mom realized how catching the spots were, when she felt a large hand grabbing her wrist, another taking the marker out of her hand, and then, as if her mommy suddenly had two sets of hands, she felt two other hands pull her down over her mommy's lap, her shorts and panties pulled down as well.

Shelby had walked in just as Rachel was putting red dots on Beth's face. She had planned on letting Rachel play her little game because she knew that it was for attention. But, marking up the four day old baby's face with red, permanent marker, had been crossing the line, along with the fact that Shelby knew that that particular marker had been in the basket on top of the fridge.

She only landed two, hard smacks to her daughter's behind before standing her up because she knew something that little Miss Corcoran did not seem to know: while she thought she was just pretending to be sick, she actually was.

Rachel glared angrily at her mother as she jerked her pants and panties back up into place.

"You can't spank me when I am sick!"

"I can always spank you when you misbehave. Now, why are you using that marker on your sister? Or yourself?"

"I don't wanna sister anymore. I want you to send her to Aunt Leah's! I had to show you that she was gonna catch my spots!"

Though, Rachel suddenly realized, she did kind of like getting to help feed the baby. Plus, one day the baby might even big enough to have fun with.

But, now Rachel was in this and, like any good actress, she had to play it out.

"Rachel, I know that you do not understand this yet, but I promise you, one day you will do anything for Beth and Beth will do anything for you. She is going to look up to you. She is going to want to be just like her big sister, a big sister that she already loves."

"She puked on me and she is taking you away from me!" Rachel hissed out.

"Baby girl, babies sometimes spit up. She didn't mean too. She spit up on me this morning too. How is that any different from you wiping your nose on my shirt when I was holding you?" Shelby asked gently.

Rachel blushed. She hadn't meant to do that! It had been an accident!

"She is going to be fun soon?" Rachel asked suddenly.

Shelby looked down at Beth and nodded.

"Yes. I give it four months before she starts laughing at everything you do. I give it eight months before she wants to be everywhere you are. You will always be one of her favorite people." Shelby said.

Rachel leaned into her mother and sat down on Shelby's knee.

"Are you still going to hold me sometimes? And I can still sleep with you when I need too?" Rachel asked, her fears being asked in questions that Shelby was more than happy to answer.

"I am holding you right now, and I will never give that up. I love being able to cuddle with you, baby girl. And I will always let you sleep with me if you need too. Nothing is going to change, Rachel, except that you and I have one more person to love. She is going to add to our family, Rachel, not take away from it."

Rachel nodded and sniffed.

"I am sorry I put that dot on her head."

"It is okay. It will come off eventually. Though, we are fixing to move Beth into her crib and I am going to help you in the bath so that we can try to get them off of you."

Rachel sighed. She hated it when her mom helped her in the bath because she always made sure she was especially clean. She was almost willing to bet all of her Barbra cd's that she wasn't going to get to get out of the bathtub until those dots were all gone.

**-OneStepAtATime:BingingHomeBaby-**

"Mommy, stop! You are taking off my skin!" Rachel wailed as Shelby gently worked on the red dots on Rachel's legs and arms. Before putting Rachel in the bath, she had rubbed baby oil all over her, trying to see if it would help any.

It had, but the dots were still visible. She had gotten them completely off of Rachel's arms, but the ones on her legs were bigger and harder to get off.

"Please let me get out now." Rachel whined. She was starting to get cold, despite the warm water.

She also realized that her head was starting to hurt a little.

"Okay. I think we have as much off right now as we can get off. The next time you take a permanent marker and draw on yourself, I am taking all writing materials away. Even pencils."

Rachel sniffed and nodded as her mommy helped her stand up so that she didn't slip since there was a sheen of baby oil in the tub. Shelby then dried her off. Normally, this was not something that she would help Rachel with, but did not want baby oil all over her house, so she made sure that all the excess was gone.

"Go get dressed."

Shelby bent over and kissed Rachel's head and felt the fever there.

"Get dressed and then come to the kitchen so we can get you some medicine."

"I am not really sick, Mommy. I was only pretending." Rachel said, just as she was about to wipe her nose with her hand.

Shelby grabbed Rachel's hand and then bent down to grab the towel that she had dried Rachel off with.

She put the towel up to Rachel's nose and said, "Blow."

Rachel sighed but did as she was told. She knew better than not listening to her mom on this one.

Shelby wiped Rachel's nose and then nudged her towards the door.

"I think, baby girl, that while you were pretending to be sick, you failed to realize that you are already sick. You have a fever and your cough is getting worse. We need to get some medicine in you so that it will go away."

Rachel sniffed and nodded.

"My head does kind of hurt." Rachel said.

Shelby nodded.

"Go get dressed then come downstairs so that we can get you to feeling better."

Rachel nodded, and then went into her room while Shelby went downstairs.

After Rachel was dressed, she heard Beth whimper as she started to pass the door to her room.

Rachel went into the room and peaked over the crib.

This was her sister.

Rachel went over to the rocking chair that was in the room, and then pushed the chair up against the crib. She stood on the chair, trying to be careful because it was not like a kitchen chair. Instead, it was rather unsteady. But, Rachel did what she set out to do and climbed into the crib.

Rachel sat at one end of the crib, her legs crossed Indian style, and she watched the squirmy little baby.

Her mommy's words were running through her head.

One day, Beth was going to look up to her. She was going to love Rachel.

Beth let out a cry.

Rachel moved over to the baby and laid down beside her, scooting her over just a tiny bit. Rachel put the pacifier that Beth had lost back in her mouth and then placed her left hand on the baby's belly.

Beth's eyes were open wide and staring into Rachel's.

Rachel smiled.

This was her baby sister.

"I am Rachel, Sis. I am going to take care of you. I won't ever let anyone hurt you. I know sometimes I might not be great at it…I have had mommy to myself for a long time, but always know that I love you. It will just take some getting used to. I think that as long as you share mommy that I will be able to share her as well. I love you." Rachel said, then kissed the tiny baby's head.

From the doorway, Shelby Corcoran, with medicine for Rachel in hand, had tears in her eyes. She was so happy. Her baby girl was going to be an amazing big sister.

She sighed when she realized that she needed to give Rachel her medicine, so she walked over to the crib and leaned over it.

Rachel was just about asleep, and Beth was already asleep.

Shelby was glad that she had put the medicines in syringes, as it was so much easier to give the medicine.

"Here, baby girl, take your medicine." Shelby said gently. Rachel opened her mouth and let Shelby give her the medicine. She swallowed, then opened her mouth again for the second one.

"Hold me, Mama." Rachel said sleepily. Shelby smiled, but was a little sad. Rachel had always called her mommy.

Mama was like the next big girl step…it was sad.

Shelby bent over and picked up Rachel out of the crib and sat down in the rocking chair. Beth started to whimper immediately.

"Get Bethie, Mama." Rachel said, her eyes then finally shutting in sleep.

Shelby smiled and then bent and picked over her other baby.

It was nap time apparently, and she suddenly realized she didn't want to miss out, so she took both girls into her room, and soon had them both lying down with her, Beth on her right, Rachel on her left.

And all was right.


End file.
